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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1998)
Tht ’he Battalion he Academic Building stands as a symbol on A&M campus Aggielife Page 3 • Tuesday September 29, 1998 for deta •; Jale Shrickung/The Battalion Academic Building has been a campus landmark since 1912. RILEY LAGRONE The Battalion E very great institution has a landmark, a building that stands out as a symbol of in tegrity and is immediately notice able to newcomers. No structure at Texas A&M fits this description bet ter than the Academic Building. The Academic Building was constructed in 1912 on the site of the Old Main building, which burned during the same year. The new building was the brainchild of Samuel E. Gideon, a professor of architecture at A&M. With fewer than 30 buildings on campus at the time, the Academic Building was only the second to be constructed using reinforced con crete, giving it the reputation of be ing built like a fortress. The tech nique was so new the contractors did not know how much steel they needed to support the structure. They decided the best option was to use a conservative amount and then double it. The idea seemed to work out fine until drinking fountains were “In order to run pipes and drains to the various floors it was necessary to cut holes in the concrete slabs,” Langford wrote. “In cutting these holes the workmen exposed a veri table mesh of steel reinforcing bars — so many in fact that the only way a rch itectu re k installed in the mid-1930s. Dr. Earnest Langford, former head of architecture at A&M, wrote about the problem in his book Here We’ll Build the College. they could be removed was to burn them out with a torch.” The building not only has a reputation as one of the most durable on campus — it was des ignated as a bomb shelter in the 1950s — but one of the most ver satile as well. During its history, the building has housed presiden tial and personnel offices, class rooms, academic offices, the main library and even a bookstore. Through upkeep efforts, the Academic Building has remained not only one of A&M’s strongest, but also one of the most memo rable and striking buildings. It is home to one of the Univer sity’s most historic possessions, a Liberty Bell replica given to the school by former Gov. Allan Shiv ers in recognition of the sacrifices made by Aggies for their nation. The Lawrence Sullivan Ross statue —or “Sully” — stands in front of the building. It was sculpt ed by Pompeo Coppini. see Academic on Page 4. astSl CUSSiOf 3:30 to; I neisw f 6 for tel meed Arena offers glimpse at future of architecture at A&M KYLE WHITACRE The Battalion Club: Ttls 243,000 square feet in gross iesdayr;Mea, cost $32.2 million to build MenteBid was opened a short time skydiviToj And it is not the Student se yw conation Center. jat69«he building in question is lail.oxnBs A&M’s new Reed Arena, the lull -purpose basketball arena gicalSniatlwas opened up last spring. :ture ak.Hhe arena was opened April 21 jRockA r jie tirst event to be held at the I la was Aggie Muster leed Arena was named by the eling ;&xis A&M University System itta Stt bard of Regents after Chester ,m. to6::jid Billie Jean Reed, who have : ountai(i : ?e|i supporters and contributors 3 tie University for many years, leed earned his doctorate in etJrinary medicine at Texas Win 1947. Jhe new arena is not only t&M building to bear the name of the couple. The Reed House, home of the chancellor of the Texas A&M Uni versity System, is named in their honor as well. The house is lo cated off George Bush Drive. The Reed Arena is a look at the potential and future of Texas A&M. The University finally has a stadium arena large enough to at tract entertainment acts as well as providing a new home for Texas A&M basketball and graduation. The Reed Arena now puts Texas A&M University one step closer to its ideal of being a world-class university. In addition to Aggie Muster and basketball games, the arena will be used to host a variety of events, including concerts, tradeshows, commencement ac tivities, convention activities, banquets and rodeos. The main arena can accomodate as many as 12,500 fans for basket ball games, 11,500 guests for con certs and other special events and 2,000 for a sit-down dinner. Reed Arena also contains a 6,000 square-foot area that over looks the arena, four meeting rooms of 1,200 square feet, a prac tice gym and 10 concession stands. Other facilities offered by Reed Arena are lockers for athletic teams, a catering kitchen, a green room, storage areas, a first-aid treatment room and a loading dock. The main arena, which is home to Texas A&M basketball, is 2,500 square feet and has two lev els of seating. The main level can holds 7,500 and the balcony level can hold 5,000 people. The concourse level has 360 de gree seating, while the balcony lev el provides three-quarters of that. The stadium is built in a dou ble-bowl configuration and is seven stories high from the main 'alias d Los ilnate *11 r, Editor 1 !g Editor Arts Editor FORD MOTOR COMPANY Business Night Information Session with: * Marketing and Sales * Information Technology * Human Resources * Purchasing Reception with Food and Beverages following presentation. Wednesday, September 30 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Clayton Williams Alumni Center exhibit floor, which is built 30 feet below ground level, to the ceiling towering above. The ceiling is built to handle 100,000 pounds of special light ing and sound equipment. In the early ‘80s when Texas A&M decided they were going to need a new arena. Several studies were conduct ed to see what type of facility they would need to accommo date special events at College Station as well as hosting the basketball team. Over the next decade several stages of planning and a more generalized focus on what was needed took shape. A multi-purpose arena was needed to accommodate the stu dent body of the third-largest uni versity in the United States. see Railroad on Page 10. The Reed Arena, which was opened in the spring, is home to many different events including Aggie basketball games and commencement. The X6 scanner by Mircotek offers true 32-bit scanning giving your favorite i Pictures or Memories the quality $199!! 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